


Voluntary Manslaughter

by Gues



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, as a treat, everyone suffers because im in a bad mood, god what are some tags for this im so bad at tagging, imagine a world where i am not solely doing rewrites, maybe a little, that world does not exist, uhhh, youre fooling yourself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29268300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gues/pseuds/Gues
Summary: I rewatched Rapunzel's Return and decided I didn't like it so I wrote it myself
Relationships: Andrew | Hubert & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Lance Strongbow & Varian
Comments: 15
Kudos: 49





	Voluntary Manslaughter

**Author's Note:**

> HOW DID THIS WIN AN EMMY IM LOSING MY GOD DAMN MIND I--

Eugene was ecstatic the second they reached Corona’s capital, leaping over the basket of their hot air balloon and opening the door for everyone to leave. 

“Finally!” He let out a breathy laugh. “No offense to any of you, but we have been together for _way_ too long and I need a break from all of your faces.” 

Rapunzel rolled her eyes and smiled, the first to step out. 

He took her hand and kissed it. “Except for you, of course, Blondie.” 

“Aw, thank you, Eugene.” She laughed and started looking around. “Oh, I can’t believe how much I’ve _missed_ everything!” 

“...And here we go.” Lance slumped over the edge of the balloon’s basket, watching with a tired expression as Rapunzel raced excitedly around the square, pointing and jumping around as though she were on a sugar high.

“Oh! Look! The Sweete Shoppe and Bakery! Oh!! I haven’t had Atilla’s cooking in _forever._ ” Rapunzel gushed over the sign, hitting it and watching it swing.

“You know what I’ve missed?” Lance chimed in, pulling himself from the hot air balloon and onto the cobblestone streets. “Other people.” He paused. “In fact...I’m still missing other people. Where is everyone?”

“Hm...that’s weird.” Rapunzel looked around, her excited demeanor fading into a soft concern. “Hello? Is...anyone here?”

“There could be an event or something? If I know Corona, they love their events.” Eugene shrugged his shoulders, looking around as well.

“Hello? Hellooooo! People! People, are you here?” Lance called out.

Eugene frowned. “Do you honestly think that’s going to--”

Glass shattered nearby, they jumped and ran over to the source of the noise. 

“Oh dear! Oh-- oh no--” Feldspar, as they’d finally recognized him, dropped to his knees and gathered the green crystals that had fallen from their container. 

“What’s wrong?” Rapunzel asked, kneeling down to help him pick up the last of the mess.

The man jumped, shocked to see another person, let alone the princess. But he relaxed when he’d recognized her. “Oh! Princess, thank goodness you’re back.” 

“What happened here?”

“Oh it’s just awful your majesty! Your father started sending ‘unruly’ citizens to mine these pesky minerals in the quarry!” 

“My father? Why would he do that?” 

“I don’t know! He just...started giving out strange orders a few months ago.”

Rapunzel frowned and helped him up, looking at the other two, each sharing similar looks of confusion. 

“Well, I guess we’ll have to get an explanation out of him.” 

“Let’s go.” Rapunzel motioned them to follow her, then made her way toward the castle.

* * *

“Alright dad! Explanation time!” Rapunzel kicked open the door and walked to her parents, both sitting calmly on their thrones. “I’d like to know why the second I’m gone you decide to go behind my back and make your citizens mine… well, I don’t know what that is or what it’s for, but they sure shouldn’t be mining it for you!”

“Young lady, what on _earth_ are you doing here?” The king exclaimed, as though her being in that room were a crime.

“‘Young Lady’? Oh, so now you’re just going to act like you don’t know me. Ok.” Rapunzel frowned. “What exactly is going on?” 

“What’s going on is _you_ need to get out of here before I call the guards.” 

The three jumped and turned around at the new voice, shocked at the source.

“Andrew! So nice of you to join us.” The king exclaimed, actually...relieved at the sight of him. 

“What?-- Dad! You can’t be serious!” 

“Go get reinforcements,” Andrew whispered to one of the people beside him. “And bring the kid.” 

The woman nodded and raced off, leaving him alone to deal with the three of them. 

“Andrew, whatever game you think you’re playing here you can drop it now.” Rapunzel spoke through gritted teeth, gripping a frying pan with strong intensity.

“Game? I’m not playing any game. _You’re_ the random stranger that decided to walk into the throne room and insult the king to his face. I’m just telling you you need to leave before you end up in the stocks.”

“Stranger? I’m his daughter!”

Andrew whistled. “Bold accusation considering the king and queen never even had a kid.”

“Wow. Awkward.” Lance muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You can’t be serious. Dad, please tell me you don’t actually believe him.”

“Of course I would, he’s my most trusted advisor.” The king ignored how Eugene choked at his words and continued. “And _you’re_ not supposed to be here.” 

“Lucky for us, we can deal with that.” Andrew smiled, giving an exaggerated bow to the soldiers that entered the room, led by the woman he’d sent to get them. 

The guards race over to detain them, friends, faces they recognize, people they don’t want to hurt. That hesitation is taken advantage of, the three of them quickly having their hands held together, pushed toward Andrew and the rest of his men.

“Wow, not even a little bit of a fight in you? Brought the big guns for nothing, huh?” 

Rapunzel narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?” 

“Oh, thought I’d give my former cellmate the chance to get back at you. Sorry kid, guess you missed your chance.” 

Andrew patted the back of one of the men, shorter than the rest of them, a pair of goggles and a bandanna covering his face, yet the hairstripe made them recognize him instantly. 

“Cell...cellmate.” Lance stopped struggling against the guard’s grip, eyes going wide.

“The one and only!” Andrew patted his back, making the kid jump, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Lance. “Now, I think it’s time we took you lot where you belong.” 

“Mom! Dad! Don’t you know who they are?”

“They know exactly who we are! Part of the castle staff. Now, your majesties, if its alright I’d like to deal with these criminals myself.” 

“Of course Andrew. See that they’re dealt with.” Frederic smiled and led his wife out of the room, leaving him to deal with the issue at hand.

“ _Explain yourself._ ” Rapunzel spat out. “How can they _possibly_ just _forget_ everything you’ve done against them?!” 

Andrew laughed. “Because I made them.” He glanced down to the woman standing next to him, flicking the wand in her hand. “You see this little trinket? Thanks to that, they only remember what I want them to. Like how both your friends are wanted felons.” 

“You _erased_ their memories?!” Rapunzel exclaimed, tugging and pulling and the man keeping her from moving. 

“Sure did! And with the help of my _friend_ over here,” Andrew put a hand on Varian’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly too tight. “We’ll be able to get a wider range, soon everyone in Corona will be thinking _we’re_ in charge.”

“Alright I think I’ve had enough of your voice. Sorry about this!” Eugene kicked behind him, landing a hit on the man’s knees and freeing himself from his grip. 

Andrew reacted fast, as well as the other guards, but so did he. Eugene landed a solid punch to the man keeping Rapunzel still, then Rapunzel whacked the third guard across the face. 

“So sorry!” She said. “I’ll help you with that later.” 

Andrew slammed a sword against her frying pan, almost shocked at how quickly she managed to block him, but pushed further. “You won’t be able to.” 

“Oh, because you think you’ll be able to detain me?” She stepped back and moved out of the way, watching as Andrew tripped and about fell over. “We’ll see about that.” 

“Stupid little-- Kid! A little help here!” 

“Right!” Varian gave a quick salute and threw several small glass balls at her hair. A puff of smoke came up on impact, leaving goo once it had dissipated. 

“And just like that, detained.” Andrew smiled. “You won’t be getting out of that for a while, see ya!” 

Rapunzel pulled and tugged at her hair, now stuck to the ground, and watched as Andrew ran over to attack Eugene, slamming his sword down with the same attack he used on her. Not one of variety, she supposed.

“Hey er...Varian? Was it? We’ve never met before.” Lance said chipperly, as though they were having a conversation and not a fight. “Blink twice if you’re being forced to do this.”

Varian slipped out of his fighting stance. “What?”

“Wait. I can’t see your eyes through those goggles. Can you take them off? Or is there something going on with that too?” 

“We’re fighting. Not having a conversation.” Varian deadpanned. He threw a glass ball at Lance, this time releasing green smoke instead of pink. It barely missed him and left acid behind.

“Huh. Point taken.” Lance took out his sword and slashed at him, though it was clear to the both of them he was holding back. “Do you make weapons for him? Is that it?” 

“Why are you asking all these questions?” 

“Because I find it strange that they’d stick you with him of all people, and I’m worried something might be up.”

Varian paused, relaxing slightly. “You’re...worried about me?” 

Andrew jumped between them, blocking Lance’s attack and sending one of his own. “Focus!” 

“Right! Right-- sorry.” Varian shook his head and ran to the back of the room, out of sight.

“Hey asshole! Pleasure to meet you.” Lance said with a smile. 

“Now’s not the time for name-calling Lance.” Eugene jumped in as well, shoving Andrew out of the way to take him on. 

Andrew motioned for the guards to back him up, several men standing around him with their swords drawn.

“Pascal.” Rapunzel whispered to the chameleon on her shoulder, looking up at the top of one of the walls, where a figure was moving in the space between it and the ceiling. “I need you to get up there and grab a yellow glass ball for me. I think that’s what’ll melt this.” 

Pascal nodded and jumped from her shoulder, racing across the floor, diving left and right to avoid the stomping feet of guards fighting around him. He crawled up the wall, reaching the top in less than a minute. He tried to grab one of the glass balls in Varian’s bag, but he was noticed before he could manage it. 

Varian jumped back, paused, looked down at Rapunzel, then back to him, and slowly handed him what he was looking for. Pascal squeaked and tilted his head, as if to question the action.

“Just get out of here and give it to her before I change my mind.” He whispered, turning back to the battle and taking out a crossbow with brightly colored arrows. 

Pascal nodded and climbed back down. He scrambled towards Rapunzel and dropped the ball on her hair. Sure enough, the goo disappeared. 

“Way to go buddy!” Rapunzel said cheerfully, helping him back up to her shoulder and returning to the fight. 

“Damnit.” Andrew whispered as Rapunzel ran over to him. He looked up to where Varian had the crossbow aimed. “Kid it’s now or never!” 

An arrow shot and hit the ground next to them, a white light blinking several times.

“Ha! You missed.” Eugene said triumphantly.

Andrew didn’t react, taking a few steps back, and shutting his eyes. The blinking quickened, going faster and faster until it could barely even be recognized as blinking. A blinding light shone from it, followed by an explosion. 

“Great job kid.” Andrew said with a smile, watching as Varian made his way down to him to look at the remnants from the explosion. “That’s some powerful stuff you got there.” 

“Are they…?” He started to say, talking a cautious step forward. 

The dust cleared, the crumbled side of the throne room leaving behind what looked to be a mound of yellow glowing hair. It fell, showing the group held inside it relatively unharmed. Varian let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t known she could do that, but he was glad she did. 

“Unfortunately, no.” Andrew gritted his teeth and turned to the men crowded behind him. “Go down there and bring them in!”

A chorus of ‘yes sir-s’ rang out amongst them as the men climbed down to the group and chased after them. Andrew smiled and put a hand on Varian’s shoulder, giving yet another hard squeeze and pulling him away.

Eugene grabbed Rapunzel’s wrist as she stood up and started to walk toward the wall the guards were climbing down. “We need to go.” 

“What? Why? We can’t just let them win like that!” 

“We can, just for now. Sometimes it’s better to live and fight another day. Let’s go!” Eugene said to Lance, pulling Rapunzel along and racing out of the castle courtyard into the town. 

“Over there, the sweete shoppe!” Lance pointed to the store, sharply to their left. They followed him, Rapunzel choosing not to get onto him when he picked the lock of the door and let them in. 

They raced behind the desk and hid under it, the wait for the guards to pass by agonizingly long, each second the men spent stomping in front of the store lasting twice their normal length, each pound on a shop’s door sounding like gunshots ringing in their ears. They reached the sweete shoppe, knocking on the door and peering through the glass. They squinted, paused, and kept walking. 

“Princess?” A cautious voice asked, opening the door to the back room with a quiet squeak. 

“Monty!” Rapunzel found herself glad to see him, a shock to all of them, including her, and raced over to hug him. 

“Oh! Um, alright then.” He said nervously, pushing himself out of the hug rather fast. “Come with me.” 

Rapuzel nodded and stepped inside, further shocked to see others in the room as well. A few she recognized were Xavier, Attila, Friedborg, and Big Nose, while others were citizens she had run into maybe once or twice. Another figure stepped out from the back of the room, foreboding at first, though she relaxed once she got a good look at him.

“Captain! It’s great to see you.” She said with a smile, pulling him into a strong hug. 

“Ah, yes. I would have sent for you myself but, well...you saw the state of the guard.” 

She let go of him, her smile falling. “What happened?” 

The captain sighed. “Andrew and Varian broke out of jail, with help from one of his allies. He erased the king and queen’s memories, as well as any guard they ran into and took over. I managed to get myself and a few of my men out before they could get to us, but I was not able to do much against them, we were quickly outnumbered.” 

“That’s awful...I’m sorry we weren’t here to help.” 

“I believe you not being here might be a blessing in disguise. With a member of the royal family with us, we’ll have someone to take over while we fix everyone’s memories.” 

“Oh. You mean I’d...be in charge. When all of this is over.” Rapunzel said nervously, her voice shaking slightly.

Eugene held her hand. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.” 

Rapunzel smiled. “Thanks, Eugene.” She sighed and let go of his hand. “Captain, I have something important to discuss with you, is there somewhere private we can talk?” 

“I’ve got a side room over here.” Monty pointed to a door off to the side. 

“Great!” Rapunzel pulled the captain to the room and opened the door, taking a seat on one of the free chairs and motioning over to a second. 

“Is this about where Cassandra is? She’s not still in the castle is she?” 

“No, no she um...she didn’t come with us.” Rapunzel rubbed the back of her neck. “There was an er...incident with the moonstone and--” 

“Is she _dead?!_ ”

“No! No she’s fine. Well, sort of. Physically? It’s complicated.” She sighed. “I’m not sure what led up to her actions, but she took the moonstone before I could get it. I don’t know where she is now, or what she’s doing, but she’s not with us.”

“Why would she do that? The moonstone’s incredibly dangerous, we’ve seen the havok it can wreak, even as far as here.” 

“She was...pretty vague about it. I know there were things I did to her, personal slights and arguments, I really messed up with her. I’m just...not sure why she’d take the moonstone because of it. I...never really understood her at all, if I’m being honest.” 

“She’s hard to understand sometimes, yeah. But she’s also not that good at talking about her feelings, neither of us are.” The captain frowned and looked to the side. “Whatever reason she had to do this, she probably thought it was the most logical option.”

“I promise I’ll try and get through to her, captain.” 

He smiled. “That’s good to hear.” 

“Alright!” She stood up and walked toward the door. “Let’s join back with the others.” 

The captain nodded and followed her out the door, walking over to Xavier and discussing what she assumed would be a plan of attack. She originally planned to simply be by herself, but Eugene stepped in front of her the moment she walked out of the room.

“Did it go ok? Telling the captain about Cassandra, I mean.” He asked, a worried look on her face.

“Yeah, it went fine. Don’t worry.” 

“And are _you_ ok?” 

“I’m...I’ll be fine, just as soon as we get the kingdom back.” 

“That’s...that’s not what I was talking about.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, of course, I _do_ care about the kingdom, but, well, I-- I think it might be something else that’s bothering you too.” 

“No, no I think the terrorists taking over our kingdom just about covers it!” 

Eugene winced. “Blondie, I know you’re stressed but if you want to just _talk_ about Cassandra we can--” 

“I think I’m good!” Rapunzel responded with a smile so obviously forced it made everyone else cringe. She hadn’t even noticed they’d been listening. “Look, Eugene, I promise I’ll talk about all that when I’m ready, I just...now’s not the _time._ ”

“Ok.” He sighed and smiled. “Just don’t bury your feelings like that, you’re allowed to be unhappy every once and awhile.” 

She returned his smile, genuine, this time, and looked over to Monty. “Do you think it would be ok if I went outside for a moment?” 

“Um...sure princess. Just be careful.” 

“Do you need me too--” Eugene started to say.

Rapunzel took his hand and shook her head. “I’ll just be a minute.” She whispered, before walking out the shop’s door. 

She ran outside fast, glancing around to see if anyone was there before making a break for the opposite alleyway, but someone caught her hand just as she managed to make it. She whipped around, aiming her frying pan at the person responsible.

“Eugene? I-- I told you I just needed a minute.” 

“You’re sneaking off, aren’t you?” 

“What? No…” Rapunzel laughed nervously. “Of course not, I would never--”

“Blondie, come on. I know you.” Eugene stepped closer to her, pulling them both out of sight. “I’m not letting you do this alone.” 

“I wouldn’t say I’m doing it _alone_ really.” She pointed to Pascal, happily squeaking on her shoulder.

Eugene raised a brow. “You brought the _frog_ but not me.” 

“I um--” She sighed. “Fine, fine ok. I just...I wanted to see the full situation. I know a lot of back entrances into the castle, and I thought-- well I thought I could get us more information to work with, see what all they’re planning.” 

“Brilliant as always, Sunshine.” He smiled. “Now, show me that secret entrance.” 

Rapunzel smirked, knelt down, and ripped open the bars on a small tunnel against the back of the alley wall. “Actually, we’re right by it.”

* * *

“Ok I know I said I wanted to go with you, but--” Eugene yelped and jumped behind her as a spike shot out near his side. “I was _not_ aware there’d be so many traps.”

“Aw, it’s not _so_ bad.” Rapunzel chuckled, leaping over tripwires and ducking under arrows. “You just have to find the pattern.” 

“Remind me why they thought it’d be a good idea to fill evacuation tunnels with _traps._ ” 

She rolled her eyes and pulled him out of the way of a hole-trap, the ground breaking beneath where his feet used to be. “We should be right under the castle now.” 

Eugene let out a sigh of relief as Rapunzel opened a hatch and pulled down a ladder, swiftly following her up and slumping against a wall. “We are _never_ going in that again, you hear me? Never ever--” 

“So how’s it going, friend.” A familiar voice no doubt matched with an icy glare echoed down the hall. Rapunzel and Eugene looked to one another, nodded and snuck over to the source of the voice, peeking through the crack in the door and listening in. 

“I-- I um--” Varian swallowed thickly, messing with the ends of his gloves. “I don’t think it’ll be ready yet--” 

Andrew’s hand slammed against the wall beside Varian’s head, he yelped. “And why’s that?” 

“It’s-- the components in it make it _extremely_ volatile--”

“And what does that mean?” 

“It um...might explode. I thought you might not want to risk it just yet if it could--”

“Damnit kid we don’t have _time_ for your bullshit!” Andrew’s sudden drastic change in volume made Varian jump, only pissing the man off more. “So what if it blows up? Either way it gets rid of our problems.” 

“What?!” Varian shot up. “Killing the entire kingdom won’t solve our problems!” 

Andrew paused. “What was that?” 

Varian slammed his mouth shut. 

A hand reached up to the goggles on his face, another to the bandanna around his neck, pulling them off slowly so they could look him in the eyes, his shaking, tear filled eyes. “Well?” 

Rapunzel managed to get a good look at his face, the first time she’d seen him in over a year. Was he always so small? His eyes were so big, his face was so small, he looked so _young_. But that wasn’t what scared her most, it wasn’t even the terrified look in his eyes. No, what scared her most was the dark purple bruise across his nose, the light one forming below his eye. He was so _small._

Eugene held her back, keeping a tight grip on her shoulder to keep her from walking in. When had she started moving, when had she raised her hand to push open the door. 

“I think we should leave.” He said quietly, voice shaking. 

Rapunzel glanced between them, wanting desperately to run in there and stop him, but...but they didn’t win against them last time, and now they had even less people to fight. She nodded slowly and let him pull her away. 

“I-- I just thought--”

“No, you _weren’t_ thinking.” Andrew leaned down, a tight, shaking grip on Varian’s shoulder, slightly too close to his neck. “When I tell you to do something, you do it.”

“You…” Varian sucked in a breath. “You said no one would get hurt.” 

“And if you do this right, no one will get hurt.”

Varian bit his lip. “I just...don’t think we should risk it.” 

“Then what do you suggest instead, genius? Wait for the princess to show up with an armed revolt at our front door, hand her back the kingdom on a silver platter?”

“No-- that’s not what I--”

“Of _course_ not. You just didn’t want to risk anything! Back in prison, you didn’t want to _risk_ getting caught by the guards when we escaped, so I had to drag you out. You didn’t want to _risk_ the backlash of killing the king and queen, so we erased their memories instead. You don’t want to risk going back again, do you?” 

“Wh-- what?” 

Andrew let go of his shoulder, reaching down into his pocket and pulling out a knife. “The guards won’t be so easy on you the second time around. You don’t want to risk getting hurt, right?” The knife slammed into his shoulder, jamming it’s way through bone with a loud crack. 

Down the hall, deep into the tunnels below the castle, Rapunzel and Eugene heard the echoed screams above them. 

They raced up, jumping over traps and cracks in the floor, pushing past guards in the hallway, no regard for the fact they were giving away their position. A move they quickly found to regret when the guards they’d pushed past started to grab them. Soon several men, too many to fight back had managed to get them to stop, just before they’d reached the lab’s entrance.

They fought against those who had restrained them, and tried to peer into the lab as Andrew pushed open the door. They couldn’t see inside, not enough to get a look at Varian, to see if he was ok, and Andrew’s cold, sinister smile didn’t calm the anxiety in their minds. Varian could see them, however, and it brought on a feeling of...confusion. 

“Fancy seeing you lot here, where’s your little rebellion?” Andrew’s smile widened as he spoke, teeth bared. 

“What did you do to him?” Rapunzel asked instead in a low growl. “What did you do?!” 

Concern. They were _worried_ about him. After he attacked them, after he tried to _kill_ them, they were there, asking if he was ok. Why now? An awful question to ask, he should be happy they were thinking of him, grateful even, yet he can’t help but be bitter at how late the concern came. He’d wished it had been sooner, before he’d gone off the deep end, back when it actually meant something, back when it would make a difference. It felt useless to him now, he would just shove it down and ignore it, it would make it easier to pretend that they didn’t care, but...

“Take them down to the dungeons,” Andrew looked up at the guards holding their hands behind their backs. “I’ll deal with them later.” 

As they were dragged away kicking and screaming, yelling about _him,_ begging to know if he was alive or dead. _Why did they care?_ He didn’t understand that, he didn’t understand _them._ He gripped his shoulder, a vain attempt to keep the blood from flooding down his arm. Andrew walked back in, his smile quickly turning to a disgusted scowl. 

“Pull yourself together.” He rolled his eyes, picked up a vial and tossed it at him. “You know how to clean off blood, patch up and join me in the dungeons.” 

“Why?” Varian asked, a hint of fear in his voice. 

“Are you fucking deaf? Your old pals decided to pay a visit, we’re going to deal with them.” Andrew looked down at him for a moment, paused, then walked away.

* * *

“Hey bud, think you could go get us some help?” Rapunzel whispered to Pascal, holding him in her hands. He nodded and gave a quick salute, slipping through the bars and scampering away.

He passed by Andrew on the way out, he’d apparently followed them down, as for why he didn’t know, but he ducked and blended in with the wall all the same. After a moment to check if he’d been noticed, the chameleon sprinted down the halls and up the stairs till he’d left the dungeons. He kept running after that, almost making it outside the castle before he heard a soft chirp. 

Pascal squeaked in response, looking around to find the source. Another chirp, louder this time answered in response, a large raccoon stepping out from the shadows. Pascal jumped back at first, even after recognizing who it was, but relaxed after a few more chirps. He hopped onto the raccoon, wrapping himself around his neck and letting out one final content squeak before Ruddiger ran back down to the dungeons.

* * *

Andrew tapped his foot, arms crossed, watching the two pace around in their cell. His impatience only seemed to grow the longer he waited, the longer the kid took. He let out a long sigh when Varian finally showed up, goggles back on over his face, looking as though he ran the whole way there, which he probably did. 

He ripped the goggles off. “You’re not hiding behind those damn things anymore. Come on.” 

“Varian!” Rapunzel looks shocked, happy even to see him. “Varian I’m so glad you’re ok I--” 

Andrew barked out a laugh. “Oh that’s _rich._ A little late for all this fake sympathy huh?”

“It’s not fake. Varian I know we’ve had issues in the past but I just wanted to say that I’m sor--”

“Princess if you’re about to go on some heartfelt teary apology I’m going to have to stop you right there.” Andrew leaned down, gripping Varian’s shoulders, one hand on the same spot he’d stabbed. “Goggles over here doesn’t _need_ your apologies, he doesn’t _care._ ”

“Why don’t you let him say that?” Eugene cut in. 

“Shoulda gagged you.” The man rolled his eyes. “Besides, why would it matter? You both have no room to talk here. Left this poor little kid all alone for _months,_ then treated him like some rotten criminal before he’d ever done anything wrong. Why would he accept any sort of half-baked apology for that?” 

Rapunzel sighed. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have done that, and I do regret it. I just want to make things up to you, Varian, please. I know what I did to you was wrong, and I can’t take it back, but I want to apologize, and I want to make things right, but only if you let me.” 

“I…” Varian looked up at her, opening his mouth to say something, but stopped when Andrew gripped his shoulders tighter. 

“Gettin real tired of your _shit,_ Blondie.” Andrew spat out, smile slowly dropping from his face. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, he doesn’t _care._ He didn’t care then and he doesn’t care now, so why don’t you just give up and move on.” 

“I can speak for myself.” Varian muttered, words barely audible. 

“Of course you can buddy, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. You were thinking the same thing, right?” 

He paused. “Right, I just-- I just thought maybe I could-- we could hear her out?” 

Andrew laughed. “Chickening out already? A few nice words from the princess and you’re ready to switch sides all over again? God, that’s pitiful.” 

“That’s not-- That’s not what I’m saying I just--”

“Then what was it?” He waited, if only for a moment before talking again. “After all I’ve done, and a few words are enough to get you to betray me?” 

“No! No I wouldn’t--” 

Andrew let go of his shoulders, yanked him around and slapped him across the face. 

It was silent, a few seconds passing before anyone reacted. Rapunzel banged her hands against the bars. “Andrew the _second_ I get out of here I’ll--”

“Shut it! One more word out of _either_ of you and this whole stupid block will be ash before you can get so much as a _word_ out to beg me to stop!” Andrew glared at her, then looked over to Varian. “And _you_. You’re just some little kid playing dress up! You were a wimpy fucking _mess_ when I met you. I fought for you, I had your back when no one else did, I dealt with your whining bullshit even when it got the _both_ of us beat to all hell. I did all that for _this?_ I should’ve left you in that jail cell to _rot._ ” 

“No!-- no I-- I want this more than anyone! This was _my_ plan. Making everyone forget was--” 

“You _still_ think this is just about making people forget? And here I thought you were the smart one.” He laughed. “I don’t _care_ if you get the memory wipe to work. I’d rather turn this whole damned kingdom to dust!”

“What? But you said--”

“Yeah yeah lighten up on the body count. Come on kid, you knew this was going to end this way. Don’t play dumb.” 

“I-- I didn’t--” 

“Fine, ok. If that’s how you want to play it. Are you going to wimp out now, or are you going to stick with us?” 

Varian paused, glancing between the two, he knew the longer he waited the more it would piss Andrew off. He had to pick fast. He already knew the answer. He didn’t want this. He never wanted this. He did all of this to save a life, his _father’s_ life. Taking everyone else away wouldn’t help that, it wouldn’t help anyone. He took in a shaky breath, reached into his pocket and pulled out a shining green ball.

Andrew whistled, holding his hands up. “You know what? I’ll give you props for being brave. Back out now and I might let you get off with a warning.” 

“Step inside the cell, _Andrew._ ” Varian tried to level his voice, to quiet the way it shook.

“Hmmmm.” Andrew smiled. “Nope!” 

He moved fast, sliding in between the bomb and Varian. A swift punch to the arm and the glass shattered on the ground, burning into the stone. His arm fell out of a fist, grabbing Varian’s neck and slamming him into a wall. 

“No! Wait, please!” Rapunzel yelled on reflex, Eugene shouting similar words of protest. 

“Why would I? Because you _asked_ me to?” Andrew laughed. “If you want, I could just as easily bash his head in. It’d be quick, more mercy than he deserves, _traitor._ ” 

“Please, _please_ don’t kill him!” 

“Ha, I gotta admit it’s rather entertaining watching you beg like that. Tell you what. Get on your hands and knees, and beg for his life. Then we’ve got a deal!” 

Rapunzel looked one last time at Varian, she could practically see the life draining from his eyes. She slowly got down on her knees and looked up to Andrew. “ _Please._ ” 

“Damn you actually did it. Alright!” Andrew released his grip, letting Varian drop to the floor and gasp for air. “I am true to my word after all. I won’t kill him, but the explosions will!” 

“What--” 

A hand grabbed Varian’s jacket collar, dragging him over to the cell across from them, opening the door before tossing him in. “Since he’s chosen to side with you, he gets to _die_ with you. I think it’s only fair.” 

Rapunzel banged against the bars one final time as the man left, so hard she might have dented it. Varian yelped, embarrassment only growing the more he humiliated himself like this. Rapunzel frowned, looking over to him with guilt-- no, _pity_ on her face, Eugene’s expression even worse, even more guilty. He hated it, he hated all of it. He hated how they looked at him, he hated how he was left here, how Andrew just threw him away like he never even mattered, he _hated_ it. 

And yet, despite how embarrassed he felt already, he couldn’t find it in himself to stop the hot tears that dripped down his face. He didn’t dare look them in the eyes, or look at them at all. He felt so _stupid._ Why did he trust him? Why did he even do this? 

“Varian.” Rapunzel spoke softly, hands pressed against the bars, still kneeling on the ground. “I’m sorry.” 

“Why-- why are you apologizing?” He sucked in a breath. “Why do you keep _doing_ that?” 

“Because I messed up. We _all_ messed up here. I just want to make things up to you.” 

“But _why?_ What-- what could you possibly have to gain from this? Help defeating the Saporians? I won’t be worth much.” 

“It’s not _about_ that.” Rapunzel sighed. “Look, I-- we _both_ kind of jumped to conclusions with you. We assumed that just because you were lashing out, it meant that you were some heartless criminal we needed to take down, but now, because of...what happened with Cass…” 

“...what happened to her?”

“She and I er...had a falling out. She took the moonstone, declared she was going out on her own with it, I’m not sure exactly what she’s planning to do now, but I doubt it’ll be good. She had her reasons for doing what she did. I’d been unknowingly hurting her for...well I guess since we met, and she’d taken it all without so much as a simple complaint. She finally snapped…and this is what happened.” 

“Oh...I’m sorry.” 

“What Blondie’s saying is we-- we took your actions at a surface level. We never tried to see past what you were doing, even _before_ you’d done anything like kidnap the queen or try to well-- try to even hurt anyone. If we’d taken the chance then to find the root of the problem instead of just feeding into it even more, maybe then… you wouldn’t have felt the need to go that far.” 

Varian looked at the man for a split second, contemplating his words before glancing back to the ground. 

“Look, kid. If anyone knows what it’s like to be backed into a corner, it’s me. You messed up, big time, but we didn’t really give you much of a choice. You had one, sure, but, well… my point is I get it. I get why you think, or thought, what you were doing was right, maybe you didn’t even think it _was_ right, but you thought you didn’t have an out. You had no one to support you or tell you what you were doing was wrong, so you just kept going further until you had nothing left. Sound about right?” 

Varian stayed silent and fiddled with his hands. He’d take that as a yes. 

“I failed you once.” Rapunzel took Eugene’s hand and met Varian’s eyes. “I’m not going to do it again.” 

Varian laughed quietly. “I’ll never begin to understand you people.” 

There was a chirp, a squeak, and a pair of footsteps sounding down the hall, steadily growing in volume. Each person’s head shot up at the noise. They were hopeful, if slightly wary. The door at the end of the block creaked open, allowed the two animals responsible for the noise, as well as a man to walk through. One chameleon, one raccoon, and Lance. 

“Hey guys! Came to break you out, I found your--” Lance stopped in front of the two cells, Eugene and Rapunzel on one side and Varian on the other. “Oh.” 

Varian glanced to the side, shutting his eyes and waiting for the inevitable judgement. It never came. Instead, Lance quietly picked the lock to both cells with a smile, letting Ruddiger into his once he finished. 

“It seems my hunch was right after all. Glad you’re on our side kiddo!” 

“I um…” Varian opened his arms, letting Ruddiger hop into them, and stood up. “Sure. If-- if you really want that.” 

Lance laughed and ruffled his hair. “Of course we do!” 

Ruddiger crawled up onto Varian’s shoulder’s, freeing his hands and allowing him to fiddle with his gloves. Rapunzel and Eugene stepped out of their own cell and let Lance pick the lock on Eugene’s cuffs, the two of them glancing nervously over to Varian while Lance seemed oblivious to the mood around them. 

“So! I just so happened to notice a very ominous looking ship filled with barrels of glowing green liquid on my way in, just thought you should know, and a certain asshole whom I shall not name but _will_ state I want dead was manning said ship. I vote we all take a family road trip out to the courtyard, kick ass, and take names!” 

“ _Crap!_ ” Eugene quickly grabbed Rapunzel’s hand and sprinted to the end of the block before stopping and turning around. “Come on we gotta stop him before he blows up the whole damn kingdom!” 

“He’s gonna _what--_ ” Lance looked between him and Varian. “Was I just-- out of the loop on this or did you know too?” 

“Sorry.” Varian shrugged, following close behind him as the man grumbled about not ever being included. 

“I hope you don’t mind, I clued in a few of our friends in on the situation.” Lance whispered as they made their way over to the courtyard. “Told them to meet me out there once I got you out of the trouble I knew you were going to get into.” 

“First of all, rude, we don’t _always_ get ourselves into trouble--” Eugene stopped. “Ok we do but-- no I can’t get myself out of this one. Alright, that’s fine. That’s good! That just means we’ve got more people against theirs.” 

Rapunzel nodded and motioned for them to follow her down one of the hallways. They stayed quiet for most of the way there, ducking and hiding behind walls and corners. Rapunzel took up the front, Eugene just behind her, while Lance and Varian stayed a few feet behind them. Lance didn’t comment on how Varian was practically holding onto him the whole way there, he knew the boy was bound to be embarrassed by it, but by how tight his grip was he doubted he’d let go anytime soon. 

“Look! There they are!” Rapunzel whisper-shouted as they ducked behind a group of wooden boxes. A group of guards, led by Andrew, loaded several barrels onto the ship. 

“And there’s backup.” Lance smiled, catching eyes with one of the pub thugs and waving them over. 

“Your highness.” The captain whispered and made his way toward them, the others following closely behind him. “Do you know what they’re doing?” 

“That ship is filled with explosives. He’s going to try and blow up the kingdom.” She spoke firmly. “Now I think the best course of action would be to have you and the others distract the guards while we--” 

“What is _he_ doing here?” One of the men asked, a quiet rage dripping from his voice. She only now noticed how the group seemed to be glaring through her. 

Rapunzel followed the direction of their gaze, eyes falling on Varian, who kept a tight grip on Lance’s arm and hid his face. She frowned and turned back to them. “He’s an ally. He’s here to help.” 

“With all due respect, he _is_ the one responsible for all this.” The captain spoke with false formality. “I doubt the chemicals they’re using were ones they made themselves.” 

Rapunzel’s frown deepened. “This wasn’t their intended use. He didn’t know, now he does, and now he’s going to help us stop them.” 

“Do you honestly expect us to believe he didn’t know they were--” 

With one swift movement, Eugene grabbed the collar of the captain’s shirt and yanked him forward. “For someone hellbent on following authority, at the expense of _basic morality,_ you’re pretty keen on undermining her’s, huh?” 

“That’s not what I--” 

“She said he’s on our side, so he’s on our side. Got it?” 

The captain glanced between him and Rapunzel before nodding slowly. 

Eugene let go of him and smiled. “Good. Glad that’s settled. What’s the plan Blondie?” 

She sighed, relaxing and looking over to the Saporians, the last barrel being loaded onto the ship. “I want all of you to go out first, keep the guards occupied while we sneak onto the ship.” 

“What then?” Lance whispered.

“Then we take down whoever’s on the ship. Hopefully we can manage to land it safely without anything blowing up.” 

“Great, you jinxed us.” Eugene groaned. “Welp, you heard her. Let’s get this show on the road.” 

The men nodded and waited for the captain’s command. A few seconds to ready whatever weapons they had on hand, then three counts, followed by the group sprinting into battle. The four waited, watching Andrew, Clementine, and a few guards hop onto the ship and fire up the balloons. Once the hoard of people fighting had moved a bit, they made their way over to the ship. Lance and Eugene grabbed some of the dangling ropes and started to climb, while Rapunzel threw up her hair. 

She heard a hiss, a distant, quiet cry of pain from beside her. She turned her head and watched Varian’s failed attempts to move his arms up to climb. Slowly, wordlessly, before he could so much as protest the action, she wrapped her hair around his waist and started pulling them both up.

“What are you--”

“You looked like you needed help.” She said as though it were as simple as that, though he supposed it was. “Remind me to check you for injuries when we’re done, ok?” 

“Oh um-- thanks.” 

The ship started to rise, both of them lifting off the ground. They heard distant talking, what sounded like a familiar speech from a large ego, manic laughter in response, all of which earned a sizable eye roll from Rapunzel, he could only assume similar ones came from the others. 

“With this first barrel, we can begin a new era. An era with this blasted kingdom off the map!” Andrew spoke loudly, showing off the barrel of liquid to the laughing men. He picked it up, shook it, and threw it off the ship. 

“Shit!” Varian grabbed a piece of Rapunzel’s hair and threw it at the barrel, catching it before it could fall.

“Nice catch!” Rapunzel smiled, though the smile fell when she noticed Varian’s panicked expression. “Is something--”

“This is about to blow up.” 

“What?!” He heard Lance and Eugene say in unison. 

Quick, worried yelling and chattering came from the others while Rapunzel and Varian fumbled with the barrel before tossing it up in the air as far as they could manage. It blew up a few seconds after in the air. They sighed. 

“That was close.” Varian said nervously.

“ _Way_ too close if you ask me, he oughta be more careful with that.” Eugene grumbled as he made his way up the rope.

Rapunzel made a shushing noise and pointed up to the ship. “We’re getting close now, we don’t want to let them know we’re here.” 

“Right. Right.” Eugene sighed and kept climbing. 

“What is going _on?!_ ” Andrew exclaimed, slamming his hands on the edge of the ship. “How the hell did that explode all the way over there?!” 

He heard yelling behind him, the sound of fighting. He turned around to see half his men knocked out on the ground. 

Eugene smiled. “That would be because of us.” 

“I think I’ve had just about _enough_ of all of you.” Andrew growled, racing toward them with his sword drawn he slammed it down to the ground and gasped when it’s blade started to disintegrate to green dust. 

Varian smiled, now in front of the group, a strong grip on the sword’s remaining hilt. “I could say the same for you.” 

“ _Yes!_ ” Eugene pumped his fist in the air. “Kid I am _so_ glad you’re on our side now!” 

Varian smiled and dodged the slash of a dagger, watching Rapunzel and Eugene slip ahead of them to take on the others while Lance stayed behind. Another slash was sent his way, the attack forming a solid gash on his arm. Lance jumped in front of him and swung at Andrew, his fist hitting the man’s face with a satisfying wack. 

“Why you little-- I need backup!” Andrew called out to the remaining men. One of them raced forward, past Eugene and Rapunzel swinging his sword at Lance and taking their fight a few feet away. 

Andrew’s sigh of relief was quickly met with a blow to the face, one he managed to block. He threw Varian’s hand to the side, grabbed and lifted him by his bandanna before he could react, and held him over the edge of the ship. 

“I thought we’d been over this. Traitors to Saporia pay with their lives, so just shut up and _die_ already.” 

Varian reached to hold onto Andrew’s arm, he could feel the fabric start to go undone. Panic rose in him, frantic eyes looking out to the others on the ship. They were fighting their own battles, they couldn’t help him. Slowly, finally, his grip on Andrew’s arm loosened, just as the bandanna went fully undone. He started to fall. 

Everything seemed to muffle out, the screaming, the panicked movements toward him. It all happened so slow, yet painfully fast at the same time. He watched Eugene shove Andrew over the edge, just as a hand grabbed his arm. 

“I got you kid! Just hold on!” Lance yelled down to him, his voice suddenly coming into focus. 

Varian looked down and watched Andrew plummet, he reached into his pocket with this free hand and threw a glass ball at the man’s face, putting him in a protective bubble. Lance sighed and pulled him up. 

“Should’ve just let him fall.” Lance muttered under his breath, though no one caught it. 

“Are you guys just going to--” Rapunzel panted and wheezed, taking on three guards at once. “Are you guys just going to let me do all the work around here?!” 

“We just took down the leader! Is that not good enough?!” Lance exclaimed though the three of them quickly joined to help her, each taking on one guard. They were out cold in seconds. “Happy now?” 

“Yes! Now we just have to figure out how to--” 

Laughter, manic laughter sounded nearby. They look over to see Andrew throw a small bomb toward the ship. It hit just above the cluster of barrels, setting fire to the balloon and travelling down toward the other explosives. 

“Scratch that. We’re dead.” Lance deadpanned. 

“No, we’re not.” Varian grabbed one of the ropes on the opposite side of the ship and cut off the balloon holding it up. With one balloon’s ties severed the ship dropped so that it hanged vertically, those conscious and able to hold on staying on the ship while the rest fell. Varian, who had latched himself onto Lance while the other three held onto various parts of the ship, threw down several glass balls to trap all the men that fell, as well as Clementine, in several large bubbles. 

“What kind of genius plan was that?!” Eugene yelled, pulling himself and Rapunzel up while Lance helped Varian. 

“If--” Varian hissed in pain when he pushed himself up, the hot searing pain on his shoulder steadily growing worse the more he aggravated it. “If I get the ship high enough, it won’t effect anything when it blows up. I didn’t want them to be on the ship when it did.”

“Sure, fine, ok. Sounds like a plan, let’s just--” 

“You all need to get off the ship too.” 

“Wh-- no!” Rapunzel grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her. “No we’re not doing that! Varian there’s no way you’d be able to survive an explosion like that!” 

“I know! It-- it’s fine. You guys can go, and I’ll...I’ll clean up the mess I’ve made.” 

“ _ **No.**_ ” She frowned. “Out of all the messes you’ve caused, this certainly isn’t the one to die for. The fact that you even _think_ that’s how you can-- Nevermind! We’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s just work on fixing this.” 

“Rapunzel you can’t--” 

“ _You_ don’t have seventy feet of magic hair that will make sure you make it out alive! Now shut up and let us help you!” 

“I-- ok.” 

“Alright kid, tell us what to do.” Eugene smiled warily, fear that was already high spiking up further when he heard quiet booms start to sound. 

“It’s pretty simple. We just have to heat this up enough to get us above the castle.” 

“Sounds good to me.” Eugene nodded, him as well as the others following Varian to heat up the balloon. 

They moved fast, as did the balloon, rising the more they turned up the heat, using the chemicals as a fuel source. Some of the acid started to splash and catch fire, shooting out in different directions. Varian jumped back and winced, some of it hitting his hand. 

“Could you go maybe five seconds without getting yourself seriously injured?!” Lance exclaimed, pulling him back further before more of it could hit him. 

“It’s not like I’m _trying_ to--” 

“Guys!” Rapunzel yelled to get their attention. “We need to get out of the way of this.” 

Lance nodded and picked Varian up, much to the boy’s protest, and followed Rapunzel and Eugene up the balloon, ignoring the occasional shake from the explosions below. There was a loud boom, one that knocked Rapunzel over the edge. Eugene managed to catch her just before she caught herself in one of the explosions, then pulled her closer to the rest of them. 

“Alright. Everyone just stay near me,” She took a breath. “And we should be fine!” 

Varian watched as she shut her eyes and slowed her breathing. Her hair floated and glowed a bright shimmering yellow, closing itself around them, walls of indestructible hair. It was truly a marvel to witness, especially from the inside, even if it hurt his eyes a little. He knew they had to be falling, he could feel it. He could feel them hit the ground as well, the violent jostling that occured every so often clueing him into their current position. The bouncing slowed to a stop, and her hair fell. 

“You did it Sunshine!” Eugene hugged Rapunzel tight before letting her go. 

“I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of this whole magic hair thing!” She smiled nervously. “Of course, constantly being in life threatening situations _probably_ helps with practicing it.”

“If I had hair it would be grey by now…” Lance lamented. “Speaking of stressors, kid we need to get you--” 

He looked over just as Varian fell over, eyes rolling back and slipping shut before he could get so much as a word of warning. Lance jumped in front of him and caught him before he hit the ground, then looked up at the other two. 

“Hairs. Grey. _All of them._ ” 

“Should we take him to a doctor or…” Eugene’s words trailed off, though the rest of the sentence was implied. 

Lance sighed and shifted his arms, moving them under Varian’s legs and neck to lift him. “Probably should deal with this ourselves. We don’t know who’s on our side right now.” 

Eugene nodded and took Rapunzel’s hand, the two nervously following Lance into the castle. Rapunzel stepped away for a moment once she caught sight of the Captain, they were all glad to see he had won as well, then she quickly ran back to catch up to them, as though she was scared to leave for too long. 

The group made their way to a small room in the castle, close enough to the medical wing they could pull supplies from it, and watched as Lance slowly set Varian down on one of the chairs. They didn’t comment on the blood staining his hands. 

“I’ll go get supplies.” Eugene offered. “How bad is it?” 

Lance shrugged and took off Varian’s coat, revealing a hastily bandaged wound on his shoulder, the bandages themselves long since stained through, a large gash on his other arm, blood dripping down to meet the burns on his hand, ones they found after removing his gloves as well. There were smaller, older injuries as well, scars littered across each arm, some looked recent, some far from it. The three stood there and stared at it all, before Eugene quietly left the room.

They stayed silent waiting for him to come back, and continued to stay silent when he did, Eugene and Lance calmly patching him up while Rapunzel sat in between and fiddled with her hands. The silence fell at the sound of Varian stirring, blinking open his eyes and looking around. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living, kid.” Eugene joked, though his expression stayed a quiet concern, a frown present instead of a smile. 

He groaned. “Did I pass out?” 

“Yep.” Lance responded, popping the ‘p’ at the end. “And with the look of you, I can see why. Those were some pretty nasty injuries you were hiding.” 

“Didn’t have time to deal with them.” Varian shrugged. 

“We would have made time.” Rapunzel whispered. “If we knew.” 

Varian glanced to the side, not meeting her in the eyes. “Sorry.” 

“No, no you’re fine! I get why you didn’t tell us. We were just...well none of this looks good, really, and we were just worried.” Rapunzel sighed, took note of how Lance and Eugene had finished patching him up and spoke again. “Um, do you think you could give us a second alone? Me and Varian, I mean.” 

“Oh! Uh, sure Blondie. Have at it. I’ll go talk things out with the Captain.” Eugene stood up and kissed Rapunzel’s forehead before leaving, Lance following behind. They both looked back, looked to each other, and walked out. 

“So um...what exactly do you want to talk about?” Varian shifted around in his chair, pressing his back into as much as he could manage, as though he wanted to form a bigger distance between the two of them. 

“Did my father… what sentence did he give you?” 

“He…” Varian glanced to the side. “He didn’t really give me one.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“Well he-- he just kind of said ‘take this brat somewhere I’ll never have to see him again!’” Varian faked a deeper voice and laughed nervously. “And he uh-- he let the guards deal with me.” 

“Oh and...what did they do?” 

“I mean, you know most of it, high security in a dingy old cell with Andrew, which from what I’ve heard isn’t much different from your typical prison sentence, just more guards watching your every move, so, um-- not that bad really, heh.” 

“What about the scars? We-- we saw a few, when we were patching you up. Did Andrew cause it or--” 

“No!” Varian said a bit too loud “No, he-- he didn’t do that.”

“I don’t think you stabbed _yourself_ in the shoulder.” She paused. “Well I don’t _think_ you did but if you did we need to have a _completely_ different conversation--” 

“No! What-- what even _is_ this conversation?” 

“I’m just compiling a list of everyone I need to execute.” 

“ _What?!_ ” 

“Joking! Joking.” Rapunzel smiled and whispered under her breath. “Slightly.” Her smile fell. “So it was the guards then?” 

“No-- no it wasn’t--” He sighed. “It _might_ have been part of the sentence they gave me.” 

“What? Mandatory weekly beatings?” 

“More like bi-weekly, really, and uh-- yeah it sounds pretty stupid. Honestly I think it was just because I was an easy outlet. I _did_ severely injure a good half of the guard, I’d get it if there was a little resentment.”

“Just because you hurt them doesn’t mean they get to keep hurting you.” 

Varian looked to the ground and messed with his hands, wincing when he remembered one was injured. 

“Varian I know you feel guilty about all this but that doesn’t mean you deserve to--” 

“Would you just _stop already?!_ ” His eyes went wide, shocked at his own outburst before quickly shaking it off. “I messed up! I-- I committed treason, I kidnapped your mother, I tried to _kill_ her multiple times! I tried to kill you and-- and _Cassandra_ and who knows how many people were hurt with those automatons!” 

“We led the entire kingdom against you, I’d call that self defense more than anything.” 

“So what if it was?! Yes, I lashed out because of what everyone did to me, and yes most of it was self defense but-- but I still took it _way_ too far! And-- and if letting people take out their anger on me makes up for what I’ve done in _any_ way then I’m willing to take it! I doubt I could ever make it up to you or-- or your mother but…”

“Varian I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t think she does either.” 

“She should. I’ve probably hurt her the most, even if she didn’t deserve it.” He sighed. “And you, I-- I don’t know where to begin.” 

“I hurt you too, we _all_ hurt you, even my mother. The both of us sat by while my father did what he pleased. And maybe it wasn’t hurting you directly, but it still wasn’t right.” She took his hands, a loose grip on the injured one. “Letting people hurt you isn’t how you make it up to them, it only fuels their anger against you.” 

Varian pulled away from her grip and refused to meet her in the eyes. 

“Did they ever stop? Did it ever get better?” 

“...no.” 

“Hmph, that’s what I thought.” She gave a slight smile. “Do you want to know how you can _really_ make it up to everyone?” 

He laughed. “I think that goes unsaid.” 

“You just have to show that you want to. Do little things! Help clean up the damage around the castle, help figure out how to bring everyone’s memories back. You and I both have a lot of work to do in Old Corona. I think the mess there was a joint effort.” 

“That was a _little_ more you than me.” 

She scoffed. “That’s!... actually wait I think you’re right.” 

“Of course I am.” 

“Well now I don’t _want_ you to be.” She frowned, a rather exaggerated look of displeasure on her face that quickly turned back to a wide smile. “So, how about it? You help me bring my parent’s memories back, I help you bring back your father, and we tag team rebuilding Corona. We both make amends with the people we’ve hurt, little by little.” 

“I think I could do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Finnoky and Glacecakes helped a lot with this fic. I'm so bad at coming up with angst and they're literal gods at it I owe them my life. Thank you guys for your wonderful ideas and suggestions!
> 
> I've also decided this is gonna be a two-parter, since all the repercussions need to be addressed too. (unlike they did in the SHOW--)


End file.
